On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 17:25:19 -0500, Joe Gwinn
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 11:26:28 -0600, dpb wrote:

On 11/21/2020 8:12 AM, JayPique wrote:
On Friday, November 20, 2020 at 6:45:13 PM UTC-5, wrote:
snip
I have a Rockwell/Delta 11-280 drill press. The manual discusses its
use as a router and a shaper. In fact the manual displays a shaper
cutter kit. I haven't used it as either a router or a shaper. But I have
used it as a drum sander.

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1141/2952.pdf

This isn't a good idea. As has been discussed in this thread
(recently at least), sanding/routing/shaping will put a side load on
the bearings. Drill presses aren't designed to handle force
perpendicular to the bit. This is just asking for terrible runout
when drilling.

I agree. That said, for light duty you could use something like this to minimize the damage...
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop...m?item=68Z0220

And you don't suppose Rockwell designed/picked the bearings to handle
suggested uses of the machine?

Plus, they even give instructions on how to replace it.

Come on, now, get real.

Yes. I have to add that the advice about not using a drill press as a
mill came out of the metalworking industry - think steel.

There really is no reason why a woodworking drill press cannot have
heavier bearings - metalworking precision is not required, so the
bearings are not that expensive. Nor is the stress on the machine
frame all that large.

I would pay attention to how the milling cutter and chuck are held in
the machine. You don't want that to work itself loose.

It's not only about routing (not enough speed anyway) but shaping,
sanding and who knows what. Drill presses are not designed to be used
that way.